People at different points in their lives may seek & offer information/data, goods, services, partners, etc. For these purposes, people may seek commercial operations that specialize in specific areas of business, e.g., a person seeking a book, might visit a book store. Transactions may be person-to-person transactions. E.g., a person needs a babysitter in his/her neighborhood. In some embodiments, people or entities may be placed into one of the two categories, a) those who seek and b) those who offer.
Several systems exist that connect those seeking with those offering. According to some classification schemes, these can be broadly grouped as:
A. Advertising mediums, including television, print, online, mail, etc.
B. Direct sales, including door-to-door marketing, telephone marketing, etc.
C. Word of mouth, including referrals through friends, family and acquaintances
D. Direct matching systems, including classified advertisements in print media, subject-focused Internet websites that match offerers with seekers (e.g., auction, dating, and job sites; e.g., general use free classified sites)
Systems A and B may be costly and are sometimes effectively limited to use by commercial businesses that have capital to allocate toward advertising and sales.
System C may limit the connection making process to the extent of a person's individual network of people.
System D, while meeting the needs of some, may have certain limitations.